BeerBorg

Hey all. I tried using Irish moss for the first time on a Winter Warmer. It was an all grain, BIAB recipe. I put the prescribed amount in the the last 10 minutes of the boil. When I cooled down the wort I got really thick nebulous clouds suspended in the wort (egg-drop soup). As I understand it, this is normal. The proteins coagulate and pull out of suspension during the cold break, which is good as it leaves clearer beer. However, a lot of those clouds got into the fermentor. The "clouds" ended up floating on top with the Krausen during active fermentation. After the krausen fell, the "clouds" turned into a kind of floating mat and stayed on top throughout the the 3 weeks of fermentation and never fell. I did a 4 day cold crash which finally caused the clouds to settle to the bottom and I thought all was well. When I bottled, and got to the bottom of the LBK, the fallen clouds had not compacted with the rest of the trub, and ended up really messing up the last couple of bottles and eventually clogged the bottling wand. My questions are; whats up with that!? Is this normal? Is this just what to expect when using Irish moss? Is the trick to keep the coagulated proteins out of the fermentor? Can you skim them off before bottling? What have been your experiences when using Irish moss? I wish I had taken pictures to show, but wasn't thinking at the time.

It's been over a year since I've used Irish Moss but I've not had happen what you have but I wouldn't worry about it.
Do you cold crash? If so, I think they should all drop out.
How much did you use in the boil?

Had the same happen to me on the 27 Dec. My wand didn't get clogged but did have the same things happen at first with the cloud but after about 4 days it completely into my wort and none on bottom of fermenter just trub. my wort is cloudy but kind of expected that with it being a cream ale. Just going with the flow and we will see what we will see at the end.

Beer-lord wrote:Do you cold crash? If so, I think they should all drop out.
How much did you use in the boil?

Yup. as I mentioned, I did a four day cold crash. The protein mat settled but did not compact with the trub. A lot got into the last bottle. I used a half tsp. for two gallons.

Strange, havent had that happen to me. I know some people strain out the break and some siphon and leave most of it in the kettle, but I just dump the whole darn thing into the fermenter.

I use Irish Moss in all my AGs. Never had an issue with the break material not dropping out in the fermenter. I cold crash for about 5-7 days at 34 degrees before transferring to a keg.

The strange thing is that when I transfer the wort into the fermenter (which is me pouring from the brew pot into LBK), I have a funnel with a strainer which I pour through. The break poured right through the strainer like it was very soft, which is why it got into the fermenter in the first place,. Later after 3 weeks in the fermenter, and especially after the cold crash, it seemed more firm. I may try this one more time, and if it happens again, I will see if I can strain it off before bottling.

I've not had that happen when using either Irish Moss nor Whirfloc. I get the good egg-drop soup as you mentioned, but have never had any other issues. Sorry, no help here.

Ibasterd wrote:I may try this one more time, and if it happens again, I will see if I can strain it off before bottling.

Be very careful, as a strainer WILL aerate the wort. If you have another bucket or LBK you could try racking it over before bottling or rack to a secondary just before primary fermentation has completed.

Sory, by straining, I meant surface skimming some off with a slotted spoon or such. Or like you suggested, carefully racking to a secondary,

Maybe I'm just being dense, but if stuff is floating on the surface, then why not just leave it there and bottle from under it?

I bottle from under 3787 krausen quite often, as if the wort is full of head forming compounds that yeasts krausen sometimes never falls because it's so dense. I could crash it and try to make it fall but I see no reason to do so.

I get what you're saying mashini. And one could just bottle from under it. I just thought it was weird.

I have found that since I started using a home-made hop spider I have A LOT less "stuff" that I leave behind in the brew kettle. And that is even when I used - and I almost always did - hop sacks. I also toss my Irish Moss into the hop spider. Then I let the kettle sit for about ten - fifteen minutes after cool-down to let as much of the break material as possible settle out. Afterwards I carefully siphon the wort out of the kettle and into the fermenter. Then, when the fermentation is complete, I again carefully siphon the beer out of the fermenter and into my bottling bucket. It all makes for a VERY clear beer.

Chuck N wrote:I have found that since I started using a home-made hop spider I have A LOT less "stuff" that I leave behind in the brew kettle. And that is even when I used - and I almost always did - hop sacks. I also toss my Irish Moss into the hop spider. Then I let the kettle sit for about ten - fifteen minutes after cool-down to let as much of the break material as possible settle out. Afterwards I carefully siphon the wort out of the kettle and into the fermenter. Then, when the fermentation is complete, I again carefully siphon the beer out of the fermenter and into my bottling bucket. It all makes for a VERY clear beer.

I use a hop spider as well. Howsomever, I put the irish moss in the pot, not the spider, to do it's business with what I'll be working with. Just say'n.

I'd agree with Day here - by putting the Irish Moss in the spider you are limiting its ability to do its thing. It sounds like you are getting good results with siphoning but it also sounds like you could be getting more from your Irish Moss.